Durapau Family : Germany and Austria 2014

During October 2-9, 2014, the girls had a week off of school so we decided to take a trip to Germany and Austria. It was the perfect time of the year to go to Germany because we could experience Oktoberfest (The largest beer festival in the world) and the weather was perfect. It was 60-65 degrees during the day and 40 degrees at night. It was nice to get a break from the 110-115 degree heat we were having in Saudi Arabia. What's interesting about Oktoberfest is that it starts in September and ends the first weekend in October. So we only had 2 days to experience it. We didn't want to stay in Munich because of the crazy crowds that would be there for Oktoberfest and because we thought all the hotels in Munich would be booked. We also rented a car and thought parking in Munich would be too difficult.

We stayed at Hotel Alpenhof Postillion
in the quaint little town of Kochel, Germany

which was a 1 hour train ride South of Munich.

This was the view from our balcony.

A view from the hotel window.

These were the keys to the rooms in the hotel.

Thursday and Friday we took a train to Munich to go to Oktoberfest. On Thursday we rode some of the rides, ate sausage sandwiches and were able to go into one of the tents. There are 14 huge tents with seats for up to 10,000 people inside and outside. Average tents hold around 3,000 people each! Then there are about 18 smaller tents with seats for a few hundred guests. In summary, there are seats for more than 100,000 visitors at Oktoberfest. Each tent served different food and different beer. Friday we arrived around 1:00 pm and the place was packed with people! Many were already drunk, throwing up and passed out! It reminded me of Mardi Gras in New Orleans! The German law allows 16 year olds to drink beer only and 18 years old there is no limitations on alcohol. It was too crowded to get into any of the tents so we walked around (as best as we could) ate rotisserie chicken, bought a few souvenirs and left. Then we got on the Hop On/ Hop Off bus for a tour of Munich.

Kochel train station, waiting for our train to Munich. This train station was only a 5 minute walk from our hotel but we had to leave early to beat the crowd, lol!

This is the train station in Munich and everyone was dressed in traditional German clothing (the clothing of Alps peasants). I don't know if they dress like this everyday or just for Oktoberfest. In every store, restaurant, and hotel the ladies wearing Bavarian Dirndl dresses and men wearing Lederhosen, (leather breeches) even after Oktoberfest was over. Rachael was excited to get her Dirndl and wear it to the festival on Friday.

As we arrived on Friday there was a horse drawn carriage
with wooden beer keg to open the Festival.

Inside one of the beer tents.

We were not able to get a seat in the tent but
Marty was representing his brother Paul's Polka Band, "Alpen Musikanten"
by wearing their "Will Polka for Beer" T-Shirt.

The sad thing about not getting a seat in a tent is that you will not be served beer. I read that the locals make reservations as early as January. So Marty went to Oktoberfest and never drank a beer. :_ (

Fischer Vroni tent - Serving fish on a stick.
This is the tent we were able to go in. See above pictures.
This tent ensures a good atmosphere & traditional Bavarian songs.

Fish on a stick, it smelled as bad as it looks!

However, the rotisserie chicken and sausage was really good!

I found out that Germany has the best mustard I've ever tasted.

Pschorr-Braurosl tent - has an authentic Bavarian "yodeler"

A good atmosphere & traditional Bavarian songs.

Marstall tent - the horse-themed tent serving beer & typical Bavarian delicacies. Marstall is the old German word for the royal riding school. Carved wooden horses as decoration inside the tent and

a stage resembling a carousel with horses around it.

Augustiner-Festhalle - a family-friendly tent & favorite of the locals.
Oldest brewery beer tapped from traditional wooden kegs,
known for the best Oktoberfest beer.

Armbrustschutzen-Festhalle - meat from livestock shooting club. Feature marksmen and shooting. Serving roast chicken, knuckle of pork or traditional sausage with sauerkraut and excellent Paulaner beer.

Hofbrau Festzelt - most known for beer brands from around the world. Favorite of international tourists and celebrities. Serving true Bavarian delicacies.

Hacker Festzelt - with surrounding clouds & stars

feel as though you are in Bavarian Heaven

Schottenhamel tent - oldest & most traditional tent where the official opening ceremony takes place. On opening day the mayor of Munich will tap the first keg and call out "O'Zapft is!" confirming that the tapping was successful. Only after this all other tents may begin to serve beer.

Lowebrau-Festzelt - Above the entrance of this tent sits a mighty lion which roars every minute. It's the meeting place for the fans of Munich's soccer team called "Lions". Not such a good picture but you can see the lion behind the Paulaner beer.

Rides!

This is the quiet corner of the Festival. It looked like this is where people went to take a break and sober up.

It may have been crazier, (but safer) than Mardi Grass in New Orleans.

Leaving this craziness! Pushing our way to the gate.

While we were in Germany at Oktoberfest,

Devin went to see her Uncle Paul perform with his polka band at

Oktoberfest in Rayne, Louisiana.

As we travel, if there is a Hard Rock Cafe'.

It's a tradition that we go eat and get a souvenir glass.
In this case a liter mug!

St. Paul Church in Munich

Munich!

We took a nighttime stroll around the town of Kochel

and stopped in at another hotel to have an evening drink.

Saturday, October 4, we drove to the town of Schwangau, Germany. We rode 2 horse drawn carriages and toured Hohenschwangau Castle and Neuschwanstein Castle. Both Castles were amazing! We took a walking trail through the woods back to our car and drove back to our hotel in Kochel.

Driving from Germany to Austria the scenery was absolutely beautiful. The challenge of driving here was that everything was written in German.

Hohenschwangau Castle!

Our horse-drawn carriage ride to Hohenschwangau Castle.

Hohenschwangau Castle or Schloss Hohenschwangau (means-High Swan Country Palace) is a 19th. century palace in Southern Germany. It was the childhood residence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and was built by his father, King Maximilian II. It's located near the town of Fussen, very close to the border of Austria. King Ludwig II began building his own castle, Neuschwansein only a stone's throw from his parental home.

A view of the town from Hohenschwangau Castle.

In the picture above of the window with a view of the new castle, there was a telescope in the room for the King to view the progress of his new castle being built. Unfortunately he never saw the completion. He did move in before it was complete and furnished. In the end, Ludwig II lived in the palace for a total of 172 days.

A few pictures from inside Hohenschwangau castle.

The views from the castle windows were breathtaking! A picture with our tour guide, lol

A view from Hohenschwangau Castle with

Neuschwanstein Castle in the background.

Our horse-drawn carriage ride to Neuschwanstein Castle!

Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle was inspired by Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany, with some French inspirations, especially Notre Dame de Paris. The palace has appeared prominently in several movies.

It's like a fairytale!

In the picture above you can see

a bridge with a hiking trail in the distance.

Looking back at Hohenschwangau Castle from Neuschwanstein Castle.

On Sunday, October 5th we said goodbye to Kochel and drove to Innsbruk, Austria. The drive was amazing with the most beautiful countryside. We stopped several times just to take it in and take pictures. We visited Swarovski Kristallwelten crystal palace. Then we checked into our hotel and took a stroll around the Old Town Square in Innsbruck. We ate ice cream, enjoyed the old buildings and the scenery then walked back to our hotel.

Breath taking scenery!

Stairway to Heaven! This was Marty's favorite picture. The water was so clear you could see the steps going down for a few yards and it was so still you could see a clear reflection of the sky on the surface.

Swarovski Kristallwelten crystal palace.

The Swarovski Crystal World was an interesting and strange place as you step through the Giant into a Crystal world with chambers of wonder. You experience art, music, dance and literature. In this magical world artist, designers, and architects create concepts of space and experience from the sparkling material. The tour ended in the Swarovski crystal store where you can shop and buy souvenirs. We also enjoyed lunch at the Cafe' & Restaurant. Then there was a craft room for kids to create art and Christmas ornaments using tiny sparkling gems that looked like crystals.

The Innsbruck Hotel Altpradi had the heater on which controlled the heat for every room and it was a little too warm so we slept with the window open at night and it was very comfortable. We also put our drinks in the window to keep them cold.

Old Town Square! In this small town everything closed early and nothing was open on Sunday. It was like being back in time and it was so cool to hear the church bells ring.

Rachael and the cutest dog ever! Golden Roof

The bridge which gave the city its name and

the panoramic view of the narrow houses.

Monday, October 6th., we took a train and cable car ride to the top of mount Hafelekarspitze. Along the way to the top we stopped to visit Alpine Zoo and we ate lunch at Alpenlounge Seegruge. Once we reached the top we took a short hiking trail to reach the summit. The view was breathtaking... so was the hike!! Lol!

A cable car ride to the top of mount Hafelekarspitze.

The Alpine zoo was not too impressive. It was small and we had to constantly climb a mountain to get to everything. But we did want to see it because it held several animal that were on the endangered species list. We did see a moose and that was different.

It was pretty cold at the top!

On top of the World!

Tuesday, October 7th., Tuesday, we drove to Salzburg, Austria. Marty accidentally entered a no parking area and had to pay 100 Euros ($126) to get out!! Once we found a legal place to park we walked around the "Old Town" center then we toured Festung Hohensalzburg Fortress and enjoyed more breathtaking scenery. After touring the fortress we walked through St. Peters Cemetery and then walked to Getreidegasse Street. We ate "Furst" chocolates (which I'm told is the only place in the world to get this chocolate). We saw the place where Mozart lived but it was too late to take the tour. Then we drove to Schloss Hellbrunn where we took a few pictures of the house and saw the gazebo that was used in the Sound of Music then finally drove back to Innsbruck! What an amazing day!

These are bollards that kept us trapped.

Festung Hohensalzburg Fortress

Lunch

Views from the Fortress

St. Peters Cemetery was so beautiful!

Furst Chocolates!

This is where Mozart lived.

Schloss Hellbrunn

Gazebo in Sound of Music

Wednesday, October 8th., We checked out of our hotel in Innsbruck and drove to Dachau, Germany where we toured Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. It was sad to hear the stories of all the horrible things that took place here. It was also a little spooky to stand in the room where thousands of bodies were stacked and burned in the crematorium. I told my daughters that this memorial should remind us about how evil and cruel people can be to one another. Then we drove to our hotel, checked in, had dinner and started packing our bags to head back to Saudi.

Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial

Crematorium

We took an audio guided tour of Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. There was a map of the memorial which had numbers that you would press to hear information about what you were looking at. There were interviews with survivors and eyewitnesses recounting their own personal experiences and memories. There was also a 22 minute documentary film which was only suitable for those 12 and over.

This grave was outside the Crematorium

as a memorial to the thousands of people

whose ashes were piled here while awaiting disposal.

This small room with bunk beds that held

over 400 people in this tiny room.

Watch tower. We were told that anyone who walked into this grassy area would be shot and some people did it just to end their misery.

Striped pajamas

Hotel Alpenhof Postillion was a very nice hotel. This is where we stayed for our last night in Germany. It was different from the other hotels which were old houses that were converted into hotels. The food was fantastic.